12 SOME BIRDS OF THE CANARY ISLANDS 



Eight o'clock found us assembled on the quay, and 

 we certainly presented a motley crowd as we waited to 

 be taken off to the boat, which, contrary to expectation, 

 had moved from the side where we landed and now lay 

 out in the harbour, one of many lights. 



It was not without considerable difficulty that we 

 had been able to discover the whereabouts of the vessel, 

 nor was it until we had walked the whole length of the 

 quay in the dark — a breakneck enough place at any 

 time — that we discovered where the boat lay. 



All my respectable fellow-passengers had ended their 

 journey at Las Palmas, so that I was now left with some 

 dozen gaunt-looking- fellows clustered round the quay 

 steps, one with a large lantern, almost the only light we 

 had, and some with empty bird-cages. I had on my 

 oldest clothes, but it was difficult to avoid feeling some- 

 thing of a "swell" in such company. My companions 

 were wrapped up in the dirtiest of blankets, they seemed 

 depressed, and disinclined to talk even among them- 

 selves, but moodily smoked their Spanish cigarettes. 

 One of them at length, peering into the darkness, an- 

 nounced the arrival of the captain, and we were taken 

 on board. 



We sailed at about ten or eleven o'clock at night, 

 getting into rough water as soon as we left the shelter 

 afforded by the Isleta. The boat was due to arrive at 

 Puerto Cabras — the chief port of Fuerteventura — at ten 

 o'clock on the following morning, the distance being one 

 hundred miles, or thereabouts. 



I turned in as soon as we had started, and slept till 

 six o'clock, when I found {|uite a transformation. The 

 rough sea had given place to the smoothest water, 



